Bangkok 3

Today is rainy so I am posting early. The plan was to take a boat trip down the main river here in Bangkok and get some more photos of temples and such. However it would appear that the weather is nixing that plan. Instead I think that I am going to head to the massive modern shopping district and walk around in sweet, sweet air conditioning for a bit. I am also thinking Thai massage today, for some reason I woke up with a crick in my neck.

Yesterday was really fun. The grand palace complex, which is surrounded by high white walls, was the first place I hit. Very cool, although also very touristy. The temple section of the complex has low walls with intricate paintings adorned with gold. I have never seen anything like it and will definitely post some pictures when I get back. The main attraction of this section is the emerald Buddha temple, which houses a simply massive Buddhist shrine upon which a medium sized Buddha sits. Then there is the palace itself, which you can't actually enter but which is a very interesting blend of thai and western architecture. Around here there are several museums chronically thai religious and political life.

Wat Pho was the second place I went. Far less densely populated, Wat Pho has tons of little stupas that seem to sprout out everywhere. The main attraction here is the world's largest relaxing Buddha. The thing is absolutely massive. His feet, the bottoms of which are adorned with thousands of precious stones, are taller than I am. Crazy. As I said yesterday, it is crazy to believe that these temples survived the hundreds of tumultuous years of SE Asian history that gobbled up so many other temples. Very Cool.
C. Johnson